The document discusses environmental and occupational health. It defines environmental health as concerning all natural and built aspects that affect population health. Most environmental health practitioners work to ensure safe water, food, air, and working conditions. Occupational health aims for workers' maximum physical, mental and social well-being. It works to reduce hazards and diseases at work. An occupational health service conducts pre-employment exams, emergency response, workplace monitoring, health education and rehabilitation to protect workers and make the workplace safer.

1. Environmental and
Occupational Health
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2. OBJECTIVES:
At the end of session learner will be able to:
Define environmental health.
Explain types of environmental Hazards.
Define occupational health .
Enlist occupational health objectives.
Discuss advantages of occupational health care.
Explain function and component of occupational
health services.
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3.  Environmental Health:
Environmental Health is a public health specialty
field that is concerned with all aspects of the natural
and built environments that affect individual and
population health.
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4.  IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENT ON HEALTH:
Most environmental health practitioners work as
inspectors and detectives who assess and ensure safe
water, food, and air quality, and sanitary conditions,
safe working conditions, assess solutions for
preventing and controlling hazards, supervise toxic
waste remediation, prevent and investigate disease
outbreaks, including those caused by infectious and
toxic agents, natural disasters and bioterrorism, and
develop environmental policies for sustainable
societies.
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5. The increasing need for environmental health
professionals comes from environmental health
threats, including those associated with global
warming and climate change such as:
The effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution
on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
Deadly outbreaks caused by food contaminated
with E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria
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6. Cont..
Beneficial contributions of natural environments
and green spaces to human health and well-being.
Workplace risk factors leading to injuries and
accidents, musculoskeletal diseases, cancers,
cardiorespiratory diseases, hearing loss, stress-related
conditions, and communicable diseases.
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7. Diseases spread through unsafe drinking water.
Cancer-causing chemicals, toxins, and other agents.
Outbreaks of Ebola virus, bird flu, influenza, TB and
rabies .
Bioterrorism, natural disasters, and manmade
catastrophes.
West Nile virus, Zika, dengue, malaria,
leishmaniosis, and other vector-borne diseases.
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8. Types of environmental hazards:
Safety hazards
Biological hazards
Physical hazards
Ergonomic hazards
Chemical hazards
Work organization hazards
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9. Types of Environmental Hazards
SAFETY HAZARDS:
These are the most common and will be present in most
workplaces at one time or another.
They include unsafe conditions that can cause:
 Injury
 Illness
 Death
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10.  Safety Hazards Include:
Spills on floors or tripping hazards, such as
blocked aisles or cords running across the floor
Working from heights, including ladders,
scaffolds, roofs, or any raised work area
Unguarded machinery and moving machinery
parts.
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11.  BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS:
Associated with working with animals, people, or
infectious plant materials. Work in schools, day care
facilities, colleges and universities, hospitals,
laboratories, emergency response, nursing homes,
outdoor occupations, etc. may expose you to
biological hazards. Types of things you may be
exposed to include: Blood and other body fluids
Fungi/mold Bacteria and viruses Plants Insect bites
Animal and bird droppings.
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12. PHYSICAL HAZARDS:
Are factors within the environment that can harm the body
without necessarily touching it.
Physical Hazards include:
 Radiation: including ionizing, nonionizing (microwaves,
radio waves, etc.)
High exposure to sunlight/ultraviolet rays Temperature
extremes – hot and cold Constant loud noise .
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13. ERGONOMIC HAZARDS:
Occur when the type of work, body positions and
working conditions put strain on your body.
ERGONOMIC HAZARDS INCLUDE:
Improperly adjusted workstations and chairs frequent
lifting poor posture Awkward movements, especially
if they are repetitive repeating the same movements
over and over having to use too much force,
especially if you have to do it frequently vibration.
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14. CHEMICAL HAZARDS:
Are present when a worker is exposed to any
chemical preparation in the workplace in any form
(solid, liquid or gas).
Some are safer than others, but to some workers who
are more sensitive to chemicals, even common
solutions can cause illness, skin irritation, or
breathing problems.
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15.  Be aware of liquids like cleaning products,
paints, acids, solvents – ESPECIALLY if
chemicals are in an unlabeled container! Vapors
and fumes that come from welding or exposure to
solvents gases like acetylene, propane, carbon
monoxide and helium flammable materials like
gasoline, solvents, and explosive chemicals.
Pesticides.
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16. WORK ORGANIZATION HAZARDS:
Hazards or stressors that cause stress (short-term
effects) and strain (long-term effects). These are the
hazards associated with workplace issues such as
workload, lack of control and/or respect, etc.
work organization hazards include:
 Workload demands
 Workplace violence
 Intensity and/or pace respect (or lack of) flexibility
control social support/relations sexual harassment.
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17. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH:
The joint international labor organization committee
on Occupational health, 1950 defined occupational
health as “The highest degree of physical, mental and
social well-being of workers in all occupations.”
It represents a dynamic equilibrium between the
worker and his occupational environment.
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18. GOALS:
 To reduce industrial accidents.
 To prevent occupational hazards/ diseases.
 To achieve maximum human efficiency and
machine efficiency.
 To reduce sick absenteeism.
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19. OBJECTIVES OF OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH:
 To maintain and promote the physical, mental and social
well being of the workers.
 To adapt the work place and work environment to the needs
of the workers i.e. application of ergonomics principle.
It should be preventive rather than curative.
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20. Advantages of Occupational health care
services:
Investigates and assesses load factors and hazards and
gives expert assistance for eliminating them.
Gives information and advice.
Estimates employees’ working ability and monitors their
health condition.
By its knowledge and skills supports action for
maintaining working ability in the development of
individuals, working environment and working
community, in this way also affecting productivity
continued.
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21. Cont…
Prevents occupational diseases and other work-
related illnesses.
Prevents premature incapacity for work, reduces
pension costs.
Reduces absenteeism due to sickness.
Can make calculations of the profitability of
occupational safety and health and occupational
health care in cooperation with workplaces or
encourage workplaces to make these themselves.
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22. FUNCTIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH SERVICE :
 Pre-employment medical examination.
 First Aid and emergency service.
 Supervision of the work environment for the
control of dangerous substances in the work
environment.
 Special periodic medical examination particularly
for the workers in dangerous operations.
 Health education for disseminating information on
specific hazards and risks in the work environment.

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23. Components of occupational health services :
 Health counseling
 Stress management
 Mental health
 And Physical health
 Rehabilitation programme
 Social rehabilitation
 Educational rehabilitation
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24. Cont..
Supervision of the working environment.
Hazard identification.
Monitoring.
Evaluation.
Engineering project review.
Control measures.
Development of personal protective devices. 24

25. CONT…
 Assessment of dusts pollution
 Assessment of noise pollution
 Assessment of vibration
 Assessment heat radiation
 Assessment of radiation
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26. FACTORS EFFECTIVENESS OF
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES:
 The nature of industry, small, medium or large
and its location.
 Existing infrastructure of health services.
 Trained manpower.
 Workers involvement and employers
commitment.
 Surveillance of the working environment by
means of epidemiological studies and testing.
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27. References:
International Programme on Chemical Safety. Principles
for Evaluating Health Risks to Progeny Associated with
Exposure to Chemicals during Pregnancy. Environmental
Health Criteria Series, no. 30. World Health Organization,
Geneva, Switzerland, 1984.
.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed
guidelines for carcinogen risk assessment. Federal
Register 49: 46294-46301 (Nov. 23, 1984)
Jetté M. The standardized test of fitness in occupational
health: a pilot project. Can J Public Health. 1978 Nov-
Dec;69(6):431–438. [PubMed]
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28. ANY
QUESTION
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